Why write clean, refactored code?The code should be self-documenting, so that gets rid of 1). When you're following Single Responsibility 2) is unnecessary; your methods are so small and concise bracket placement and capitalization cease to matter. 3) makes the most sense but I would still choose the candidate that can write readable code. 4), even though far down on the list is not worth mentioning. See: The Pragmatic Programmer and Clean Code